S.O.N.A.R.: grab your friends, man your stations, and try not to sink

Picture a submarine movie where nobody actually read the manual. In S.O.N.A.R. - Submarine Operators Not Actually Ready, up to four crew members juggle nine stations, including sonar, periscope, diving, navigation, engineering and damage control, through combat runs, stealth slips past destroyers, convoy escorts and treasure hunts on the sea floor. The sub catches fire, springs a dozen leaks, and the only thing keeping you afloat is proximity voice chat and people yelling orders. You can also slap a crewmate who's panicking, which is very important.

The co-op chaos kicks in almost right away, and it's the kind of game where one bad call turns into a whole group meltdown in the best way. If Barotrauma in 3D or a cheap Hunt for Red October night with friends sounds good, this is it. It feels surprisingly polished for $8.49 (launch price, normally $9.99). There's a campaign with tons of missions, an open world mode, crew needs like food and rest to keep track of, piles of silly outfits, and Steam Deck Verified status. It comes from Abylight Barcelona, the team behind Citadelum and Super Hydorah, and two patches have already landed in its first two days.

The big catch is that, despite the official 1–6 player count, this is a 2+ player game. It's hectic with two and better with three or four, and solo is a tough sell. It's also a little buggy right now: the proximity mic filter can clip the start and end of sentences, which hurts in a game built on shouting at each other. Difficulty can feel randomly punishing, and the sub can feel underpowered once you move from campaign to open world. And it's only been out since Oct 29, so the fast-riser buzz comes from about half a day of tracking. It's early days.